And we're off!

Christy and I departed Charlotte this morning and arrived in Check, Virginia, in Floyd County, by mid-afternoon.

Although this blog is titled "Rick & Christy's Sustainability Adventure", the real adventure begins today. Everything leading up to this point has been in preparation for us living on this land. This is an attempt to live as sustainably as possible. And for the cynics out there - the qualifier is "as possible". When one talks about living sustainably, it's hopefully with the understanding that it's impossible to truly live that way. However, we can live with the intention to be more sustainable or to be more precise - minimize our impact on our environment.

By growing as much of our food, building with sustainable (there's that word again) materials, minimizing our consumption of fossil fuels, and minimizing our waste stream, we hope to achieve this concept of "treading lightly".

After unloading the majority of our belongings in a nearby storage unit we headed for the property where we pitched our tent before nightfall. It was a fairly cool, windy, and rainy day. And so it was quite fortuitous for us that our neighbors, Annie and David, invited us over for a bowl of hot soup. Their presence, as well as other neighbors - Ed, Randy, Ben, and Jay - will certainly be a big help in the coming years. Everyone has been so hospitable and friendly to Christy and me. We're very lucky to have found this community.

With the heavy wind and rain, Christy and I didn't get much sleep. But after a cup of fresh-brewed coffee (french press, of course) and bread with jam we were ready for our first full day.

April Ain't Nobody's Fool!

• A busy day today - our last full day in Charlotte. Christy and I, with the help of Jim, Linda, and Nancy, loaded up the rental truck in preparation for our much anticipated move to Floyd. We'll head out tomorrow morning. It was nice to be able to take our time and not rush, i.e. load the truck, drive 3 hours, and unload. Splitting it up over two days makes for a less harried move.


• One of the many things I'm looking forward to is "setting down some roots". In all of my 50 years, I can't recall living in a single house for more that 4 years - as a child or an adult. I'm ready, so very ready. I want to be a part of a community. A community that's been cultivated over many years. I'm ready, so very ready.
  
• I pulled two April Fools' jokes today. One on my daughter Lindsey: I told her that her younger sister, Lauren (who is providing daycare for Lindsey's daughter in lieu of rent and also working part-time), called me this morning to say that she's moving in with her boyfriend and wouldn't be able to watch Lindsey's daughter anymore. I told her that Lauren didn't want to call Lindsey herself because Lindsey would be too upset. Well, it worked so well that Lindsey started crying because she didn't know who would watch her daughter - my granddaughter. I know, such a mean dad. I really hadn't intended it to go that far. I was just hoping for a "Oh my God! Are serious?!?" Sorry, Lindsey! I know you'll get me back - you always do.
  
• The second one was on my brother Adrian: I told him that our dad said that he's leaving Las Vegas (reminds me of Sheryl Crow, for some reason) and is hoping to rent my brother's second house that has just became vacant. Well, he fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Enough so that he called our dad to inquire. He had a few choice words for me once he realized he'd been had.
  
• Christy and I took her sister, Nancy, out for a festive night of sushi. It was our way of showing appreciation for allowing us to live with her these past few months. It was actually quite enjoyable. We all had a lot of fun.
  
• Well folks! This will be my last post from the lovely state of North Carolina - while living here, that is. There are some good cafes in Asheville, you know. Oh, and of course our families are here as well. So, we'll be back often. However, the next post will come from a cafe somewhere near home in Virginia - I like the sound of that - HOME.

Root Canal or Root Vegetables?

• I prefer the latter, however, this morning I had to suffer the former. And so began my second day of liberation. After a dose of pain receptor inhibitors, the pain subsided and I was able to help Christy with planting some more seed trays. We planted a total of 109 today. We'll have to get many of these into the ground next week when we move to Floyd.
• Got a tip from a friend in New Hampshire about an alternative to drywall. It's called a strawboard panel. Here's a not so brief description:

"Strawboard building panels are a kind of structural insulated panel (SIP) designed to replace 2x4 stud and drywall construction for both interior and exterior walls, as well as provide load and non-bearing ceilings, roofing, doors, flooring, and prefabricated buildings. These environmental friendly, solid panels are made of all natural fibrous raw materials, mainly wheat and rice straw. The durable panels feature thermal and acoustic insulation as well as fire and termite resistance and are available for a variety of applications to speed up the construction processes. While these have been used in over 20 countries for more than 50 years, strawboard panels have only been introduced to the U.S. in the past few years.
Strawboard panels have a solid core of compressed wheat or rice straw. High pressure and temperatures forces the straw to release a natural resin that binds the fibers together. The compressed panels are then covered with either paper liners or OSB that is adhered to both sides with water based non-toxic glue. The standard panel measures 4 feet by 8 feet by 2-1/4 inches to 8 inches, weighing from 140 lbs. to 440 lbs. each. Custom panel sizes are available ranging from 3 feet to 12 feet long."

It's worth doing some research. I've put in a request for pricing and availability.

• Went to look at a 10' x 14' shed for sale. The guy is selling it because he found out that his HOA won't allow a shed without a privacy fence. They probably wouldn't allow laundry to be hung outside, either. It's sad but true. So, we'll make a decision in the next day or two. There are just so many pieces to this shed that it'll take a good two days to put together. And that's working on it full time.
• Started in on my assignments for the Advanced PV (photovoltaic) class today.

I Do Like Mondays...

when I'm not working. Today we got our first taste of freedom. Freedom from the drudgery of a 9 to 5. I say that not to be be gloating, but simply to let out a sigh of "I don't have to go to work today." It's something that most people dream about; however, it doesn't seem practical or feasible for most (or so we've been taught). Having said that, there's no illusion that Christy and I will have a life of leisure. We'll be working harder, once we move to Floyd, then we have in the past. The difference is that we'll be working for something that's more tangible than money, something that we're passionate about, something that we are in control of.

Today we received the bulk of our seeds. And, as promised, here's a list:
Mexican Sunflower
Zinnia
Amaranth
Short Stuff Sunflower
Snap Beans
Tennessee Red Valencia Peanuts
Bussell Sprouts (lauren's favorite!)
Broccoli
Tatsoi Mustard Greens
Kohlrabi
Striped Beets
Chantenay Carrots
Italian Parsley
3 varieties of potatoes - Carola, Rose Finn Apple Fingerling, & Russian Banana Fingerling
Black Mexican Corn
Red Bell Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Jalapeno Pepper
4 varieties of tomatoes - Green Zebra, Mortgage Lifter (love that name), Dad's Sunset, & Glacier
Suyo Long Cucumber
Muskmelon
Okra
Various Herbs
Winter Rye (for crop cover)
Already seeded: Mesclun Greens, Kale, Swiss Chard, and Valencia Onion.

On order: Black Table Black Beans, Waltham Butternut Squash, Table Queen Acorn

Squash.

Already growing on the property: Blackberries, pears, apples, and peaches. The latter three are questionable in that we need to remove vines growing on them. The blackberries, as mentioned in a previous post, are quite prolific.

Today, Christy and I took apart a discarded hot water heater. We'll use the internal tank for our solar hot water heater. We'll clean up and sand surface of the tank, repaint it black, and place it in a wooden box covered with a glass or Plexiglas cover. See here for an idea of what we're going to be doing.




So much scraping.








What do we have today, Vanna?



Got the results of my NABCEP PV (photo voltaic) Entry Level test today - I passed! I was worried because there were things on the test I hadn't studied for. This was a test that I took out in Tucson after the PV Design and Installation class. This is part of the requirement to become a certified PV installer.

"Like Little Machines"

A haiku courtesy of my, now former, co-worker, Jake:

Like little machines,
We maintain our existence,
But we never live.

It's perfect! Thanks for sharing that, Jake.

So, today, fittingly the first day of spring, was our last day at work. It hasn't quite sunk in yet. Perhaps it will on Monday morning when there's a noticeably silent alarm. I was graciously treated to a fun farewell lunch by my co-workers at Alpha. We went to Red Bowl - an Asian bistro. I was really happy to see so many people. Jeri made this cute little log house out of Lincoln Logs. I love it! Everyone has been so effusive with their kind words. It's truly humbling. It was fun working at Alpha. I'm really going to miss everyone there.



Our house, is a very, very, very fine house...

Two Days and Two Weeks!

Only two days of work left, AND two weeks before Christy and I are Virginia-bound. It seems like the culmination of a dream, yet it's just beginning. To say that we're excited would be an understatement. To finally immerse ourselves in a more sustainable way of living is beyond words that I can conjure up.

Other musings:

• We've ordered the majority of our seeds and have already planted some in a seed tray - 17 have already sprouted. People keep asking us what we're going to be growing. I'll post a list in the coming days.
• According to our neighbors in Floyd, Annie and David, the tree clearing is pretty much done. We're just waiting for word from the logger that he's finished. Then comes stump removal and getting the well dug.
• I've started a personal journal because there's just so much to think about and plan out. I also got inspired after reading some older entries in a journal that Christy and I started a few years ago.
• Christy's employer (The Carolina Raptor Center) gave her her farewell lunch today. They gave her one of those musical cards with the song "Hit the Road Jack". The quality of the music is probably better than the old transistor radios that I grew up listening to.
• Although I agree with a lot of what Thomas Friedman has to say about the environment and consumerism, I'm finding it difficult to be his champion after discovering that he lives in a +13,000 square foot home. Sorry dude, there ain't no way to call that living sustainably or treading lightly. I'm really trying not to judge, yet I've lost a bit of respect for the lad.
• I've got two books in the "active" queue: "What is the What" by Dave Eggers - a fictional recreation of the life of one of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan. And then there's "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynn Truss - a truly witty book on punctuation. Perhaps I'll learn a thing or two on where and where not to use a comma, apostrophe, semicolon, and colon. I know, "That's some exciting reading there, Rick." I can't help it, I like learning new stuff.

Best Run-on Sentence

"We have created a system for growth that depended on our building more and more stores to sell more and more stuff made in more and more factories in China, powered by more and more coal that would cause more and more climate change but earn China more and more dollars to buy more and more U.S. T-bills so America would have more and more money to build more and more stores and sell more and more stuff that would employ more and more Chinese ...
We can’t do this anymore."

Thomas Friedman
Author of "Hot, Flat, & Crowded"

• Eight more days of work left! It's like I'm a kid again waiting for Christmas. Except this time Christmas lasts for more than a day.


• Adrian popped into Charlotte for the day. He was here to get a little tour of the inner workings of Charlotte's Habitat for Humanity's Restore. He's applied for the position of Director of the Durham Restore. The Pugh clan joined us for dinner at Phat Burrito. Wonderful weather to sit outside and watch the worker bees come home from work.


• My granddaughter Adriana's fourth birthday was yesterday. My daughter Lindsey made her a 3-tiered Cinderella cake. Wish we were there.

"Sun is Shining...

... the weather is sweet." Bob Marley

Got back to Charlotte on Sunday night after spending a week in Tucson, Arizona. I had taken a six day class on PV (Photovoltaic, i.e. Solar Panels) Design and Installation presented by Solar Energy International. I camped out at a permaculture community just outside of the city. A lot of information was crammed into those six days but it was oh so worth it. There were 26 of us in the class and two instructors. The class consisted of four days of classroom and two days of hands-on at an actual installation. I learned quite a bit more than I expected. There's just so much that goes into designing and installing a PV system. I'm confident that I can do an installation with some supervision.

The stay at the permaculture center was a great experience as well. It was truly motivational to see this community living in such a low-impact manner. Camping in the desert was really fun. I got to see some really cool wildlife: javelina (peccary), coyote, ringtail cat, Gambel's quail, black-chinned hummingbird, ferruginous hawk, gila woodpecker and more. Also got to do some hiking up some nearby rock outcroppings.

Tent site

Above Permaculture Center

Behind my tent

Prickly Pear Cactus


Installation site

"Keep hugging those trees, somebody needs to!"

Thanks, Dennis! You're right - someone needs to... someone... somebody... anyone... Well, how about everyone? Not just tree-huggin' dirt-worshippers but everyone.

So I informed my boss last week that I'm leaving Alpha at the end of March. It's not quite what he wanted to hear coming back from a much needed 3 week vacation. He took it pretty well though. We had a good long chat about my and Christy's plans and his thoughts on work. He told me he had put me in for a promotion. In a tight economy that's a humbling thing to hear. I'm like "Just kidding, I'm not going anywhere." But the forest beckons and being a farmer is much more enticing.

So many books and so little time. Here's what's in the queue:

• Hot, Flat, and Crowded
• Cabins - A Guide to building your own nature retreat
• Photovoltaics - Design and Installation Manual (for PV class in Arizona next month)
• The Straw Bale House
• Serious Straw Bale
• The God Delusion - Which I had to return to the library because it was requested by someone else. What a great book. It gives one reason to pause and question - if you don't already.
• And sundry periodicals

Some thoughts and observations:

Life in Charlotte is good but Christy and I are anxious to leave.

I'm looking forward to our trip to NH at the end of April. Lindsey's birthday is the 25th so it'll be nice to share the day with her.

A mom, three daughters, a granddaughter, a wife, a sister-in-law, and a mother-in-law - so many women in my life! Oh and let's not forget my other two sister-in-laws (my brothers' wives) and three nieces. Phew! It's a good thing I grew up in house with 3 brothers and a strict, overbearing, military father to balance things out.

My sister-in-law just showed off a vest one of her Montagnard families gave her. It's supposed to be for a man so she promised to give it to her future husband.

This past weekend I recommended to Fred First (a blogger and author from Floyd) that the theme for this year's Floyd Earth Day be Radical Simplicity. What better way to make a change than starting at the bottom. He said they would consider it in an upcoming planning meeting.

Expedited Expedition

The cat's out of the bag and so we can finally make public the latest news. Christy and I have decided to move onto the property sooner than we had originally planned. We're leaving Charlotte at the end of March/beginning of April. We made this decision in November after being motivated by a Durham couple, Rebekah & Stephen, living sustainably in an urban setting. They had replaced their lawn with an edible garden, installed a PV system and a solar hot water system, and got rid of their cars. The two of them have authored a book - "The Carbon Free-Home". Rebekah is also an electrician and installs solar panels.

Christy has already informed her employer and I will do the same after the holidays. I think a 90 day notice will be sufficient, yes? I hope my employer will be as accepting as Christy's was. We'll see. But who knows, perhaps because of the down-turn in the economy one may get laid-off. I could only be so lucky.

Working in an industry that is so intimately tied to consumerism has been difficult for me. How to justify being against a consumptive, throw-away society and at the same time working for a company that relies exclusively on that principle? Do you simply say, "Hey, I'm doing the best I can. I have to pay the bills somehow."? It works for awhile but that dichotomy doesn't fade with time. It is this reason and more that I've decided to change careers and work in the renewable energy field by installing PV (photo voltaic) systems. In February I'll be attending a week-long PV Design and Installation class in Tucson. Afterwards, I'll do an advanced class which entails 60 hours of classwork which I can do online. The plan is to be come a certified PV installer. Where would I work? Well, as luck would have it, our neighbor, David, in Floyd owns a PV installation business. We've already discussed my working for him. Also, another neighbor told us he has a friend that also owns a PV installation business who needs help. So I don't think there will be a lack of work. In the long term, I do not plan on working full-time. The idea is to earn enough to pay for the things we can't provide ourselves - insurance (home, car, & health), gasoline, cell phone service, and staples such as TP, soy milk, and most importantly - coffee. We hope to provide the rest.

When we move onto the property we'll initially be living in our tent - how primitive! We'll use this time to build a smaller structure - a cabin/cottage. We're thinking an approximately 200sq foot structure. This will be our home while we're continuing to save for the straw bale house. At the same time we'll start farming as well. We'll be clearing some of the trees in either January or February in preparation for planting and the well.

It's all very exciting but at the same time quite daunting. Christy and I aren't approaching this with the romantic notion that it'll be easy and idyllic. There's going to be a LOT of hard work and many frustrations. But we're motivated, determined, and patient. We work well together and are always supportive of each other. This will be a good test of how well we cope under duress. I am just so lucky to be with someone who is as excited and willing to do this as I am.

ye reap what ye sow. So true - literally and figuratively.